Stocking.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

Application filed March 17, 1905. Serial No. 250,540.

.To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUs KAYSER, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York,

' have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stockings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in' stockings, and especially to the toe portion thereof.

In the present instance it is my intention to provide a stocking having two separate distinct toes, one of said toes being formed of material differentfrom the material of the other.

Vith these ends in view my invention consists in the construction, combination, and

arrangement of parts, as set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein there is delineated a preferred form of my invention, similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the views.

Referring` now to the accompanying drawings in detail, Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through the foot portion Vof a stocking and showing clearly the arrangement of my double toe. Fig. 2 is a plan or face view of the foot portion of the stocking in its incomplete or instep state, such view illustrating the manner in which the extra toe portion is knitted to the ordinary toe of the stocking.- Fig. 3 is a face View of such extra toe portion detached, and Fig. 4. is a transverse sectional view taken through the toe portion of a stocking such as is shown in Fig. l.

During a series of experiments in an attempt to provide a durable comfortable double-toed stocking I discovered that when both toes are formed or `knitted from the same materialsuch, for instance, as silkthe toes are liable to wear through very rapidly, owing to the nature of the material. On the other hand, it is very desirable, especially in high-grade goods, to have the stocking made almost entirely of silk, and I have found that if the inner toe be formed of a material different from the outer toe greater durability and strength is attained and at the same time a high-grade stocking is provided, which may be manufactured at a comparatively low expense and which will wear nearly twice as long as a stocking having both toes formed of the same material.

So in my preferred form of stocking I form the outer or ordinary toe of the same material as the body of the stocking-such, for instance, as silkwhile the inner toe is formed of a softer, stronger, and more absorbent material, usually cotton.

In the manufacture of my improved stocking the foot portion A, which I usually make of silk, is knitted in the ordinary manner and up to approximately the instep portion, when the fabric is placed in a holder or transfer-bar and the ordinary toe portion a, also of silk, is knitted onto the foot portion by the usual needles. When the toe portion t has been knitted to substantially the form shown in Fig. 2, it is transferred to the needles on approximately the line B of said figure, and a second toe, such as shown at which is composed of a fabric strongeig'more durable, and more absorbent than the silk, suoli fabric being preferably of cotton, is knitted by the needles. The knitting of the second toe portion is begun upon a line passing approximately across the instep of the footwof the stocking, and this supplemental cotton toe is substantially similar in every respect to the ordinary toe portion. When the stocking i-s ready to be removed from the needles, it is of the form shown in Fig. Q-that is to say, the unfinished instep foot portion is provided with a pair of toes substantially the form shown in Fig. 3. After the knitting of the toes has been completed the stocking is removed from the needles and transferred to a looping-machine, where the open-end portions of the toes are connected, as is shown at c, Fig. l. The stocking is' then ready to be stitched and is taken to the stitching-room, Where it is completed in the usual way.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that the knitting of the supplemental toe portion is begun at approximatelythe front of the instep, as is shown at D, and, as has been stated, when theknitting of the` supplemental toe is completed it is practically a counterpart of the original toe with the exception of the fact that it is formed of a different material. It will further be observed that this supplemental toe is entirely separate or independent of the main toe, and as such supplemental part is of a softer yet stronger material than the outer toe it absorbs the perspiration of the foot and at the same time prevents the rapid wearing away of the toe portion.

IOO

Another point of advantage incident to my improvement is that the two separate toes greatly add to the ease and comfort of the wearer, for the inner toe is free to move slightly with the movement of the toes of the foot, while the outer toe of the stocking, which contacts with the shoe, is free to move therewith, the result being that the two toes of the stocking will rub against each other, and there is thus comparatively little friction upon the foot, as the inner toe instead of rubbing against the hard surface, such as the sole of a shoe, wears against the outer toe, and as this inner toe portion is of a stronger material than the outer toe the movement of the foot against the same is not liable to wear the same through with the usual rapidity which is incident to a stocking having both toes of silk, while to all appearances and purposes the entire stocking is made of silk, inasmuch as the outer toe is of the same material as the body of the stocking.

I am aware of the fact that it has hitherto been proposed to make a stocking with two separate distinct toe portions, and I wish it to be understood that I do not claim, broadly, a stocking having two separate toe portions; but I believe myself to be the first to make a stocking having separate and distinct toe portions of different material.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim by Letters Patent is l. As an article of apparel a stocking having a plurality of separate toe portions, one

of said toes being of diderent material from the other.

2. As an article of apparel a stocking having a toe portion of silk and a second, separate toe portion of cotton.

3. As an article of apparel a stocking having a supplemental toe knitted to the main toe at approximately the instep of the foot portion of the stocking and connected to the main toe at the tip thereof, such supplemental toe being of material different from the main toe.

4L. A stocking having an outer toe portion and a separate inner toe portion of a material different from the other toe portion secured at its base to the material of the outer toe.

A stocking having a plurality of toe portions enveloped one by the other and secured together at certain points, the outer toe being made of silk and the inner toe of a material softer and more absorbent than the material of the outer toe. i

6. A stocking, having an outer toe portion, and an inner supplemental toe portion, of a material softer and more absorbent than the material of the first-mentioned toe.

In testimony whereof [have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JULIUS KAYSER Titnessesz n LIVINGSTON GIFFORD, RICHARD B'. GAvANAGi-L 

